For Bob Linscott, life's about teens and rock 'n' roll

Sunday

Sep 28, 2008 at 2:00 AM

Bob Linscott is a guy who lives two drastically different lives.

Mike Sullivan

Bob Linscott is a guy who lives two drastically different lives.

From Sunday through Wednesday, the North Hampton resident works as a residential counselor for at-risk teens. The rest of the week, heading into the weekend, he's the lead singer in an up-and-coming rock band out of Newburyport, Mass., named Project 57.

Residential counselor and rock singer — sounds about as opposite as a seamstress and a boxer, doesn't it? Regardless, Linscott is wired to handle both roles quite well. He's a high-energy guy with a positive attitude. He likes people and is easy to get along with, but he'll tell it like it is. These character traits help Linscott thrive in his work for the Harbor Schools facility in Haverhill, Mass., and with Project 57.

And while Linscott's two "positions" seem like they're on opposite ends of the spectrum, that isn't necessarily the case. Both require a great deal of energy, patience and resolve. As a counselor for Harbor Schools, which merged earlier this year with Easter Seals of New Hampshire, Linscott provides life-skills training for kids between the ages of 13 and 18. That entails, and certainly isn't limited to, employing therapeutic intervention methods as well as more conventional services such as cooking for the kids and providing transportation.

It isn't easy work, but it's something for which the 35-year-old Linscott clearly has a passion.

"Some of the kids don't want to be helped. The ones that do..." Linscott smiles as his voice trails off. He pauses, and then pipes up again. "When you run into them years later and they're working, taking care of themselves ... that's what makes it all worth it. I like to think I played a small part in that."

Linscott began working with developmentally disabled people when he was 17, and for the past two years has been working with at-risk teenagers. This is the kind of job not just anyone can do — it takes a special personality.

"Bob is very patient, and he works really well with kids," said Jason Metzner, Linscott's supervisor at the Harbor Schools, where 12 teenagers live. "He works hard to try and find common ground with all of them, and that's why they respond so well to him."

Aside from working with the teens, Linscott thrives on the variety of day-to-day activities.

"It's fun because I get to do things most people don't get to do at work," Linscott said. "I go to movies, play guitar with the kids. It's not a 9-to-5 job, and I get weekends off, which works well for the band."

Ah, yes, the band. Based on its recent success, it would seem as though Linscott's weekends off really do work well for Project 57.

The group recently won the annual Battle of the Bands competition in Haverhill, securing themselves a deal to make a video and $1,000 to go into what Linscott calls "the band fund."

You can see the band perform on its MySpace page at www.myspace.com/project57music. Anyone interested in seeing Project 57 up close and personal can do so on Saturday at the Pavilion at Salisbury Beach. The band is playing a benefit show and will go on between 5 and 5:30 p.m.

Project 57 was formed seven years ago when Linscott connected with lead guitarist Ron St. Jean. They had originally met at an open mic night in Newburyport, where the band is more or less based out of, then Linscott answered an ad posted at a music store. Someone was looking for a lead singer for a band, and it turned out to be St. Jean. Seven years later, the band has grown to five and is preparing to release its first album.

If Linscott could make a full-time life out of music, he says he'd have to give it a go, despite his obvious passion for working with kids.

"I know I have to make my living, and then I know I want to make my living playing music," he said with a smile. "I like the yin and yang of it all."

Two lives, one guy. That's Bob Linscott.

Mike Sullivan is a Seacoast Sunday columnist. His column appears every week and you can also read him each Monday in Portsmouth Herald Sports. Sullivan can be reached at sullywrites@comcast.net.

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